From the course: AutoCAD MEP Essential Training

Adding detail components - AutoCAD MEP Tutorial

From the course: AutoCAD MEP Essential Training

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Adding detail components

Along we love the AutoCAD MEP functionality comes a robust way to add details as you see fit. Apart from certain a block from the directory, you have been using for years. AutoCAD MEP offers the detail component manager. This video will have a starting in the drawing from a pre-defined template. We will then find the detail component manager on the home tab. Then we'll drill in to the plumbing section to add a detail of a roof drain and a couple others. We will then go in to the options dialog to discover where we can path the detail component manager to look for a custom access database. So to get started, let's fire up AutoCAD MEP. Let's focus our attention over here to the get started area. Under Start Drawing, let's click the Templates drop down. Let's go down to AECB Model US Imperial CTB and click that. Let's make sure we're all ont he same page. I'm going to go down to my workspace switching. I'm going to click my fly-out. Let's select Plumbing. In our plumbing workspace, let's go to the Home tab. With home tab current, let's do down to Detail Components. This is our Detail Component Manager, which looks to and access database. Let's drill down to division 22 plumbing. Then go to facility, sanitary, sewage. Sanitary Waste and Vent Piping. Let's click on floor and roof drains. Our floor and roof drains is actually a drawing with a few blocks in it. The first block I want to grab is a roof drain. So, let's select roof drain and click Insert Component. I zoom in by willing away from you. Let's pick a spot right here and lets hit escape. Notice that autoCAD simply inserts a block with a bunch of pre-defined layers. Let's go back to our Detail Components. This time, let's grab an overflow roof train. Let's click Insert Component. We can add an overflow roof train as well. I'm going to pick a spot right about here. I'm going to hit Escape. Let's grab one more. Go back to Detail Components. I'm going to grab a floor drain without waterproofing, Insert Component. I'm going to put it right here. Hit Escape a couple times. And it's as easy as that. Now let's see in our Options where this database resides. To go to our options at the Command Prompt, type op and hit Enter. In the Options dialog, let's click the right arrow and let's scroll down till we find AEC Content. Click the AEC Content tab. And see where all of our content is being pathed to our Detail Component databases is right here. So, click on Add/Remove. Go ahead and click on Add. Notice that it's looking for an access file dot mdb. This is where you would browse to your own custom database. Click Cancel. Click Cancel and click Cancel. You can also modify the existing database. Go to the Detail Components. Now if you click the Modify button or Edit Database, you'll see now you can add a group. You can add components, and you can edit existing components and you can even start to delete extraneous components that you don't care about. Click Close. So now you have a actual alternate way of bringing in a 2D block

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